A loading coil assembly comprises a cable, generally referred to as a stub cable, containing a plurality of pairs of insulated wires and a plurality, equal to one half of the number of wire pairs in the cable, of bifilar toroidal coils arranged in an orderly cluster around the axis of the stub cable. A first pair or insulated wires extends from the stub cable to each coil and the ends of this first pair are connected to first ends of the two windings of the coil. The second ends of the coil windings are connected to a second pair of insulated wires which extend back to the stub cable. Load coil assemblies are employed to provide an inductance in each pair of conductors in a communications cable and the ends of the conductors in the stub cable are therefore spliced to the conductors of the cable so that the individual coils are connected in series with the conductors in the main cable.
The manufacture of loading coil assemblies thus requires a large number of coils and electrical connections between the coils and the conductors of the stub cable. A variety of arrangements are used, or have been proposed, for supporting the individual coils adjacent to the stub cable and forming the electrical connections required; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,845,435; 3,952,906; 3,865,980 and 3,988,707. In general, a substantial amount of supporting structure is required for the individual coils and a large number of terminal sites must be provided for the electrical connections between the stub coil conductors and the coil windings.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of an improved toroidal coil supporting means having an integral terminal-receiving housing which is intended for use in the manufacture of load coil assemblies. The terminal housing receives terminals by means of which the windings of the coil are connected to the insulated conductors from the stub coil and the integral coil supporting and locating means which is integral with the housing has interengageable latches by means of which an individual coil can be latched to adjacent coils in a stack of identical coils. The integral latching means eliminates the need for many of the coil supporting or locating devices used in previous load coil assemblies.